It’s been a year of major and much deserved achievement for 2017 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creator Sabba Khan. An artist whose work I’ve described as combining “moments of quieter symbolism with compelling visual metaphor” and who defines her practice as examining “first world city life as a second generation Pakistani Muslim migrant”, Khan was not only shortlisted for the prestigious Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition this year but also had her autobiographical graphic-novel-in-progress Pluralism picked up by Myriad for publication in 2021.

Motherhood, her zine distributed through zine collective One Beat Zines, echoes the themes of Pluralism with its examination of family, self and the sometimes contrasting pull of two cultures. It’s perhaps more graphic narrative than pure comics, structured as it is with single page illustrations facing accompanying text, but with a marked passage of time on display between each image it’s undeniably sequential art. Such, of course, is the overlapping vagueness inherent in attempting rigid definitions of comics-related terminology…

Tracing a relationship between a Muslim mother and daughter through the years it explores an intimate familial connection that is, almost paradoxically, both constantly evolving and yet, on another level, fundamentally unchanging in its mutual love and concern. Tradition is juxtaposed with the realities of living in two worlds as daughter searches for her own sense of identity often to the mother’s disappointment. But we’re reminded by story’s end of the defining importance of our roots and heritage, no matter how our paths in life may take us in different directions.

Khan’s stripped back illustrations are all the more expressive for their focus solely on the two characters. They poignantly catch the complex intricacies of their relationship through the key cues of their body language, with the verse-like dialogue being both rhythmic and almost melodic in construction, and yet naturalistic and open in delivery. Motherhood is a perfect and accessible introduction to the themes of Khan’s work and the art of one of the true rising stars of UK indie comics. 2021 can’t come quickly enough…

For more on the work of Sabba Khan visit her site here and follow her on Twitter here. Motherhood is available from One Beat Zines priced £4.00 here.

For regular updates on all things small press follow Andy Oliver on Twitter here.

Andy Oliver is Broken Frontier’s Editor-in-Chief and site owner. He is also a co-organiser of the annual UK Small Press Day, was a member of the 2015 British Comic Awards Committee and a judge for the 2014 Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition.

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